GrApHiX42 writes: The FCC will announce on Thursday it plans to pursue a "third way" forward in the fight for tough net neutrality rules, opening a new front in an ongoing legal battle that could come to define the commission under Chairman Julius Genachowski. A senior FCC official said Wednesday that the chairman "will seek to restore the status quo as it existed" before a federal court ruled it lacked the authority to regulate broadband providers and set rules that mandate open Internet. The goal is to "fulfill the previously stated agenda of extending broadband to all Americans, protecting consumers, ensuring fair competition, and preserving a free and open Internet," the FCC official said.